This curriculum unit includes tested and proven materials for teaching To Kill a Mockingbird to high school students. Published in 1960, the novel became a Pulitzer Prize winner within two years and has been a staple in high school classrooms ever since.

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Told from the perspective of a young, precocious six-year old tomboy named Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, the novel is both endearing and appalling as it juxtaposes the idealism of innocence against the cruelty of racial injustice. Scout and her older brother, Jem, live with their widowed father, Atticus -- a small-town Southern lawyer who defends a black man unjustly accused of rape.

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This guide begins with a discussion of teaching racially sensitive literature to teenagers and continues with academically and culturally enriching activities that help students explore the subtleties and complexities of this important American work of fiction. A pacing guide assists teachers in their planning and preparation, and the unit includes formative and summative assessments.